‘You’re doing fine,’ Devlin said encouragingly as her friend put her foot down on the accelerator.
‘Wowie!’ hollered Maggie as they flashed past the ancient farmer.
‘Stirling Moss, look to your laurels,’ put in Devlin and they all guffawed. It was a journey of light-hearted laughter and anticipation and by the time they finished a delicious lunch they were all relaxed completely, the pressures of city life entirely forgotten.
‘Do you think we should have a “Sin Bag”?’ Devlin asked with a gleam in her eye as they came out of the restaurant. They grinned at each other and without hesitation marched into the first sweet shop they came to and bought all round them.
‘If Janet could see us now,’ Caroline said happily, helping herself to a bullseye.
‘Now, we’re not going to put on half a stone like we did on the Shannon!’ Maggie said warningly.
‘No,’ said Devlin, cheeks bulging with Turkish Delight. ‘We’re going to put on a stone!’
They all giggled uproariously, delighted to be in each other’s company on the weekend they had looked forward to for so long.
The sun was still high in the sky when they reached Devlin’s farmhouse and at her urgings they changed rapidly into bikinis and ran down the wooden steps leading to the beach at the foot of the cliff. They plunged into the white foamy surf, letting the sea caress and soothe them, stretching limbs that were cramped after the journey. Later, they lay on loungers on Devlin’s secluded patio as the sun warmed them and they began to go gently brown. Eventually the only sound to be heard was that of the humming bees as they fed from the honeysuckle and hibiscus and the skylarks trilling their happy song and the soft slow breathing of the three friends as they snoozed in unashamed pleasure in the middle of a Friday afternoon.
That night, Devlin took them to a restaurant in Carne, The Bakehouse, where they dined magnificently. Devlin knew the proprietress, Marie, an attractive young woman, who had taken over the restaurant when it was nothing but a shambles, and turned it into a beautiful eatery. The three girls sat in a lamplit secluded alcove with a view of the small picturesque harbour, watching the sun set, its rays painting the sea until sky and sea were a blaze of pink and gold.
They dined like kings on seafood cocktail that contained chunky portions of a variety of shellfish and was almost a meal in itself. This was followed by a melt-in-the-mouth stuffed wild sea bass in an exquisite sauce, of Marie’s own invention. The accompanying vegetables, crisp, crunchy and perfectly cooked, were an added delight. It was touch and go as to whether they would be able to eat any dessert, but when the dessert trolley arrived, and they saw the selection of truly mouthwatering confections, they got their second wind, and added another few pounds to their hips. It was a superb meal and they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
It was all hours before they got to bed as they sat up talking for ages. It was an evening of shared confidences and renewed closeness between them as they told each other the most intimate secrets of their lives.
Devlin confided that she had taken her pride and thrown it out the window in order to ring Lydia after years of estrangement. They planned to meet the following week. It was a start.
‘I’m glad, Dev,’ Caroline said, hugging her friend. ‘Your dad will be so pleased.’
‘I know he will,’ Devlin said thoughtfully. ‘I think Mum is too. She was crying on the phone. She hasn’t really had much of a life, I suppose, and I think she feels terribly guilty about Lynn and Kate.’ She smiled at her friends. ‘Luke will be glad too. He’s always on at me about it.’
‘He’s a lovely man,’ said Maggie softly.
‘Yes he is. I love him dearly.’
Maggie told them that she planned to have her tubes tied. Three children and two frightful pregnancies were enough for her and besides she was practically certain that her relationship with Adam would develop into an affair.
‘I love Terry in my own way, I suppose, but he destroyed my trust with his affair with Ria, and Adam gives me so much more encouragement and support about my writing. He’s a man in a million and I’m going to make the most of him.’
‘You’re right!’ said Caroline firmly.
To a reaction of shocked silence she told her two friends about Richard’s homosexuality.
‘Jesus, Caroline!’ exclaimed Devlin. ‘Why didn’t you tell us before now?’
‘I couldn’t, Dev, until now,’ Caroline replied simply.
‘Are you going to stay with him?’ Maggie asked quietly.
Caroline smiled. ‘For the present. You see, he needs me.’
‘And what about your needs? You actually told him to go ahead and resume his affair with Charles!’ Devlin said incredulously. She didn’t condemn Richard for being homosexual, but she despised him for marrying Caroline to cover it up.
‘It doesn’t bother me, Devlin. They really love each other and Charles is a very kind and supportive person, so why should I stand in the way of their happiness. I was as much to blame as Richard, I should never have married him. I ignored all the signs and deluded myself that everything would be fine when I was married. I married for the sake of getting married and look where it got me. Believe me, Dev, I’m happy enough the way I am for the moment. I’ve conquered my dependencies. I’m standing on my own two feet at last. My time for happiness with a man will come. Who knows I might take a figarie and fly to Seville and contact Ramon again!’ she said wickedly. She had told them about her night of debauchery in London.
Maggie laughed. ‘I wouldn’t mind an introduction to him myself! Maybe when I’m researching my next novel!’
‘You’ve enough for a novel here,’ Devlin remarked as she got up to make yet another pot of tea.
‘Now, that’s an idea,’ Maggie was intrigued.
The next morning they woke to the pitter patter of rain on the window panes. ‘Oh goody,’ murmured Devlin from the depths of her bed, ‘I won’t have to feel guilty about not getting up!’ They had a lovely lie in, reading, snoozing, and chatting, and then they had a Cruiser Brunch and went for a walk along the rainwashed beach. Later in the afternoon Caroline drove them to the cemetery and they stood close together at Lynn’s and Kate’s grave. Devlin was crying softly. The sadness passed and the sun came out, and they went back to the farmhouse and sunbathed.
That night, Devlin told them she was bringing them out on the town. There was only one shower and one hairdryer in the farmhouse so their preparations took a little longer than usual. Devlin was having her shower last, and when she came into Caroline’s and Maggie’s bedroom, she saw with some surprise that they were still in their underwear and both fast asleep. Devlin grinned. It was the sea air. It had that effect on everyone. Just as well she was used to it! She’d leave them until she dried her hair. It didn’t take long to dry the soft silky curtain of blond hair. She looked at her watch, ten o’ clock. Things would only be getting lively! Devlin gave a stifled yawn. She’d wake the girls in a minute . . .
She woke up at five past one, and didn’t know where she was. Hazy memory came back. She walked into the girls’ room. The two of them were snoring gently. ‘Get into bed,’ she ordered sleepily, pushing Caro beneath the covers of her bed, and unable to get a stir out of Maggie, she covered her with a quilt.
‘Oh the shame of it!’ Maggie’s eyes twinkled as they sat over breakfast the next morning. ‘Are we getting past it or what? For God’s sake don’t ever tell anyone about last night, I’ve a reputation to live up to!’
That night, they did make it out. Dressed up to the nines they went out to dinner. It was the last night of the most relaxing, fulfilling weekend they had spent in their many years together. The bond between them had grown even stronger. They all knew they would never be alone and that they were secure in the knowledge of their friendship. As they watched another beautiful sunset from the elegant dining room of the cliff-top hotel, Devlin raised her glass in toast. ‘To the most important thing that anyone, rich or poor, can possess. And
that we are richly blessed with.’ She smiled. ‘To friendship.’
Smiling back, Caroline and Maggie raised their glasses.
Patricia Scanlan
A Time for Friends
When are the boundaries of friendship pushed too far, and when is it time to stop flying over oceans for someone who wouldn’t jump over a puddle for you? There comes a time when Hilary Hammond has to make that call.
Hilary and Colette O’Mahony have been friends since childhood, but when irrepressible Jonathan Harpur breezes into Hilary’s life and goes into business with her, Colette is not best pleased.
After their first encounter Colette thinks he’s a ‘pushy upstart’ while he thinks she’s ‘a snobby little diva’. And so the battle lines are drawn and Hilary is bang in the middle.
But as the years roll by and each of them is faced with difficult times and tough decisions, one thing is clear . . . to have a friend you must be a friend.
And that’s when Hilary discovers that sometimes your best friend can be your greatest enemy . . .
Patricia Scanlan
With All My Love
On a crystal clear Mediterranean day, Briony McAllister sits playing with her four-year-old daughter, Katie, while she waits for her mother, Valerie, to join them. Valerie has recently moved to a picturesque town in southern Spain to finally leave behind her turbulent past and find a peace that has always eluded her. Briony has no idea that in a few moments’ time her relationship with her mother will change irrevocably.
As Katie plays, Briony pulls from her bag an old photo album, found in a box in her mother’s new home. As she begins to study the faded photos, a letter falls to the ground. It is addressed to her.
My Darling Briony, it begins. As Briony reads the words with mounting shock, realisation dawns. Her mother lied to her about what happened with her beloved grandmother Tessa all those years ago – and denied Briony that most precious of relationships, the type of relationship Valerie now enjoys with Katie.
The lives of three generations of women are set to change forever as the past is revisited and the truth unfolds through the undelivered letters Tessa wrote to Briony over the years. Secrets, lies, betrayals and sacrifices – the complex bonds between mothers, daughters and granddaughters are intricately explored as Patricia Scanlan takes us into the hearts and homes of a family at war.
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